The Performing Arts Initiative for Students of Color aims to diversify the performing arts, yet our pursuit to build opportunities for students extends beyond the stage. Embedded within our mission is the idea that when we perform with people in an intimate setting, an opportunity arises to learn about life experiences that are different from our own. One result can be a new awareness of the injustices our fellow humankind face that develops us into informed global citizens who actively pursue social change.

We painfully acknowledge that the events surrounding Christian Cooper, and the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery are only at the tip of a seemingly insurmountable iceberg of our country’s systemic racism. We believe that #blacklivesmatter because it is our Black community that disproportionately suffers at the hands of unchecked police brutality and vigilante justice.

In response, PAISOC has created a lyric sheet and compiled a playlist of popular gospel songs and hymns from the Civil Rights Movement for everyone to use to learn how to sing protest songs rooted in Black history. But, we would love to have volunteers to help us make and share videos that teach the history and melodies of protest music. Contact us on any social media platform and let us know how you would like to be involved. Together, we will overcome.

Additionally, we encourage you to donate to organizations fighting for the rights of Black Americans.

Minneapolis/Minnesota
George Floyd Memorial Fund
Black Visions Collective
Reclaim the Block
Communities United Against Police Brutality

National
Campaign Zero
Unicorn Riot
Center for Policing
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund